After acting only in school plays until she was 9, EMMA WATSON (born 1990) was cast as Hermione Granger, the socially awkward spell-spewing Muggle with the bad hair in the Harry Potter films. Although not born to a wizarding family, Hermione far outshone her more pedigreed friends when it came to confidence and skill, managing to save Harry and Ron from countless scrapes. During the 11 years it took to make the eight Harry Potter films, Watson emulated her on-screen persona almost to perfection by finishing high school with top grades, attending both Brown and Oxford, and avoiding media scandal like Harry avoids the dementors. Throughout it all, Watson maintained her integrity and sense of decorum, refusing to engage in any of the usual child-star shenanigans. With her stint as Hermione ending just last year, Watson made The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a coming-of-age film in which she once again plays the female anchor in a trio of lovable outsider best friends. And her newest film, The Bling Ring, has Watson playing a gun-toting, bling-stealing celebrity stalker. That’s it, Emma, show us your wild side.

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On his or her birthday, HiLobrow irregularly pays tribute to one of our high-, low-, no-, or hilobrow heroes. Also born this date: Claudia Cardinale, Samantha Fox.